]]>http://www.rd.com/home/decorating/pumpkin-carving-patterns-ideas/feed/71The 15 Scariest Songs of All Timehttp://www.rd.com/culture/scary-music/
Tue, 25 Oct 2016 19:18:23 +0000http://www.rd.com/?post_type=slideshows&p=228795Quick! Think of a scary song. Got one? Most of our minds jump to beloved seasonal favorites like Bobby Pickett's "Monster Mash" and Bach's "Toccata & Fugue in D Minor." But scary music is an art form that extends far beyond Addams Family imagery and macabre classical compositions. These songs run the gamut from hip-hop to avant-garde to spine-tinglingly bizarre—and all of them just plain good.
]]>Quick! Think of a scary song. Got one? Most of our minds jump to beloved seasonal favorites like Bobby Pickett's "Monster Mash" and Bach's "Toccata & Fugue in D Minor." But scary music is an art form that extends far beyond Addams Family imagery and macabre classical compositions. These songs run the gamut from hip-hop to avant-garde to spine-tinglingly bizarre—and all of them just plain good.
]]>You Won’t Believe the Incredible Costumes This Dad Is Making for Kids in Wheelchairshttp://www.rd.com/true-stories/inspiring/halloween-costumes-kids-in-wheelchairs/
Tue, 18 Oct 2016 18:44:41 +0000http://www.rd.com/?p=228305How one man’s beautiful vision is becoming a reality for children with disabilities across the country.
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When Ryan Weimer, 38, a nurse in Portland, Oregon, found out that his first son Keaton was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at just nine months old, he worried his boy would be forever defined by his disability.

A form of muscular dystrophy that affects motor nerve cells in the spinal cord, SMA could take away Keaton’s ability to walk, eat, and even breathe. Weimer resolved to give his son the best life possible—which is why, when Keaton was three years old and told his father he wanted to be a pirate for Halloween, Weimer brought out the woodworking tools.

Instead of simply clothing his son in a familiar pirate hat and eye-patch, Weimer built a wooden, five-foot-long pirate ship around his Keaton’s wheelchair, complete with black sails, a treasure chest, and a scurvy parrot perched on the rigging. Keaton’s costume not only made headlines in the local newspaper, but instantly changed the way people saw him.

“[People] saw my son before they saw his disability,” Weimer told Reader’s Digest over the phone. “For me to see that—I got choked up and right away. I knew that this was something I wanted other families to be able to experience.”

Building costumes for Keaton became an annual tradition. After several years, Weimer upped his game by subscribing to the Stan Winston School of Character Arts, a resource of prop-building lessons founded by the studio that gave us the cyborgs from Terminator and the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park, among other classic creatures. Soon Weimer was building dragons and drag racers with professional skill—and looking for ways to expand his reach beyond his family.

In 2014, Weimer founded Magic Wheelchair, a non-profit that builds and donates epic costumes to disabled children between the ages of five and 18. Funded by donations and manned by volunteers (including fellow members from The Stan Winston School), Weimer’s team invests upwards of $4,000 and 120 man hours per costume to create magic for disabled children on Halloween.

And best of all: Thanks to a tremendous response around the country, Magic Wheelchair is growing. Last year, Magic Wheelchair had six volunteer teams; in 2016 they have 20 teams spanning all the way from Los Angeles to New York City—and they will not stop there.

“Our mission is to build costumes for every kid in a wheelchair,” Weimer says.

From costumes such as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Van, to Toothless from the movie How To Train Your Dragon (which is now on display at the Kent State University Museum), the possibilities are endless for Weimer, his team, and his volunteers from across the country. Through Magic Wheelchair’s work Weimer hopes to not only create a positive impact, but also a little more empathy and understanding on what it really means to be a special needs family.

“Aside from all the costumes and the smiles, we build connections and community,” Weimer says. “It is a dream come true to be able to help people.”

To learn more about how you can donate, volunteer and ultimately create magic for all children with disabilities on Halloween, please visit MagicWheelchair.org

]]>22 of the Most Haunted Places in America, According to Paranormal Expertshttp://www.rd.com/advice/travel/haunted-places-america/
Tue, 18 Oct 2016 16:32:41 +0000http://www.rd.com/?post_type=slideshows&p=227766After Being Sick for Two Halloweens in a Row, This Kid Made Up For It in the Best Wayhttp://www.rd.com/funny-stuff/sick-for-halloween/
Fri, 14 Oct 2016 18:00:40 +0000http://www.rd.com/?p=224373My baby brother wasn’t going to miss Halloween three years in a row.
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Joey loved Halloween. When we were kids in the ’50s, my little brother could not wait to get home, sort his candy into piles and eat all his favorites first.

When he was 8, he had to miss trick-or-treating because of a high fever. He pleaded with our mom for hours until he gave her a headache and was sent to his room in tears.

I went around the neighborhood with two bags, asking for treats for my brother who was home sick. The neighbors were very generous. But he didn’t feel well enough to do his sorting and eating routine until the following weekend.

The next year Joey had two costumes ready: the pirate with an eye patch and a plastic sword he was supposed to have worn the year before, and the new cowboy costume complete with boots and Lone Ranger six-guns he’d gotten for his birthday. He was counting the days. But he came down with the flu and couldn’t stand, never mind dress up and go out into the frigid New York night.

I went around with his sack and mine, and everyone said, “Not again!” They poured goodies and change into Joey’s bag, telling me, “He can buy what he likes when he gets better.”

He had a sack full of candy and two dollars in change, but Joey wasn’t happy.

When October came around again, Joey was ready. He had three unused costumes waiting to be worn and he was a boy on a mission. My parents had already decided they had to let him go trick-or-treating no matter what.

Halloween fell on a Saturday that year, which gave Joey the chance to rest up so he could stay out late. He was the first one out and the last one home. When his bag got heavy he came home, changed his costume and started over again and again. Joey was determined to make up for lost time. That night he was having the Halloween of his life.

When Joey, in his new Superman outfit, finally trudged in for the last time and saw his three bags of goodies waiting for the sorting, he hugged them and burst into tears of joy.